Hi HuanLe

> Ummm... no offense, but I think there was a reason that the entries in this round were "disappointing".

No offence taken, it is good to get feedback on why this was not a successful contest - believe me I would have much rather it had been successful!

> Most of the other contests at SitePoint have extremely creative and visually appealing designs, yet this one contains none. Why? I think it is because the brief you gave us restricts our creativity. You want us to be creative, yet you specifically require us to put this and that here and there. It sounds like the client already has a design plan in mind, and we simply have to follow orders. That leaves no room for creativity, especially when we are all forced to use the same pictures and the same content.

I can see your point, and I thank you for taking the time to make it. I do feel that the contest was actually very straightforward - we needed a creative approach on presenting specific content. We feel it is important that content is a guide to design, otherwise we could end up with something 'beautiful' yet useless in terms of delivering the client message. There was clear guidance on what needed to be included, and where it needed to be placed. That should have hopefully left the focus for the entrants on arranging this content in a stylish and creative manner, however it clearly didn't happen. Perhaps we scared everyone off with our 'demands', yet I have always felt it better to be specific and clear with precisely what is needed.

> Also, all the sample sites you and your client presented us with were beautiful, yet none of us were able to create one similar. Why? Because those sites were mosty images, and very little text. Those designers did not have to face the challenge of squeezing in all those pictures and two pages of text onto one small layout.

Again, perhaps this wasn't really explained well enough - I do take your point on board. The quality was so low in round 1 that I felt it necessary to say 'look this is the standard of design needed'. It wasn't a suggestion to mimic any of those sites (I did actually say this, twice) but just to set the bar for the contest. When I revised the brief I chopped 50% of the text and yet still entrants failed to grasp the basics, such as using the 1024 width intelligently.

> I'm sure the reason this contest failed was not because the participants' skills are not up to par, but rather it was simply too difficult and impossible to fulfill all the requirements you stated.

Maybe so - my opinion remains that not enough people actually read and understood the brief.

> Sorry, just my opinion. Hope you don't take it personally, and good luck with your future endeavors.

Don't apologise - it is refreshing to receive constructive feedback, and has helped me understand where the contest could have been improved. Maybe it simply was not suitable for a design contest - either way I appreciate your valued comments.

All the best
Kevin

Update:

The contest ended, and I gave everybody who entered feedback on their entries.

In the end, we were unable to use a single entry from this contest to present to the client.

I tried to make the brief as clear and comprehensive as possible, and gave very strong clues as to the type of creative imagination and design skill that was needed for a valid entry.

A couple of entries had a little potential, but were not complete enough to be presented.

Overall there was a disappointing lack of quality and we had to use in-house designs in order to make our deadline.

I thank all who tried, but there is to be no winner for this contest, as none of the entries submitted were put forward. The contest has been cancelled.

Kevin

This contest was meant to close at 9am USA EST, I can see that it ended early as it was based on Australian time - please submit your entries if you have them.

Thanks

Please read the PDF at http://www.clientpreview.co.uk/site…-brief.pdf carefully - that tells you exactly what should be included.

PLEASE can all contestants ensure they have actually read the brief fully?

It is at http://www.sitepoint.com/marketplac…estid=1955

Everything you need to know is there. ALL of the information is important. The page text and general layout guidelines are at http://www.clientpreview.co.uk/site…-brief.pdf - THIS TEXT MUST BE INCORPORATED INTO YOUR DESIGN.

Thanks

The brief has now been fully revised - please read thorougly before considering entering. Many thanks!

Thanks to all that entered this contest and apologies for the delay in getting feedback to you all. This will be provided in the next few hours.

We have struggled to find entries that we feel properly reflect the careful brief that was given, and also exhibit the required level of graphical expertise.

With this in mind, the contest will be re-opened shortly to run until Friday. I will upload a rewritten brief with clear and comprehensive instructions.

The bottom line is this - the winner will be an entry that shows expert layout skill, in line with the standard shown by major brands on the web - Abercrombie, Gap etc.

As for design inspiration, obviously design is a subjective matter but the best link I can give you is this:

http://www.smashingmagazine.com/200…s-in-2006/

Please observe the standard set in these designs, both in use of high-quality images, and usable, beautiful layouts with a good working knowledge of how the design will eventually be converted to CSS. This is the level of work we are looking for - we favour the 'light' coloured designs over the 'dark' designs. Obvious duplicates of these sites, template modifications and/or simplistic butting together of photos won't win this contest - there has to be some imagination, originality and thought put into the entry.

There was a huge wealth of client info in the first brief to draw on to help with this - the important points will be re-emphasised in the rewrite.